Outlander: The Garrison Commander Show Only

September 14, 2014 9:35 AM - Season 1, Episode 6

Capt. Jack Randall's arrival creates tension during Claire's meeting with a British general.
posted by tracicle (15 comments total)

I'm really enjoying this show, more than I expected to, but that one scene was very hard to watch. Ugh.

Jamie's admission cracked me up, though.
posted by homunculus at 10:47 AM on September 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

Fuck YOU Black Jack Randall!
posted by infinitewindow at 1:32 PM on September 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Jamie's admission cracked me up, though.

As a book reader, this is what I appreciate so much about the series. Yeah yeah, time travel romance, but the author does a nice job of turning a few standard romance tropes upside down, to my great satisfaction.
posted by olinerd at 4:32 PM on September 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm curious - for the show-only viewers, did the gut-punch catch you completely by surprise, or was it obvious that Randall was leading up to violence? Was it like one of those horror movie moments where the audience is all "get out of the house, you idiot!"?
posted by oh yeah! at 6:36 PM on September 14, 2014

I knew he wasn't going to let her go, but I wasn't expecting that. I expected something more like him escorting her to another room and then locking her inside in order to interrogate her more severely later. The sudden brutality followed by the petty sadism of ordering the other guy to kick her did surprise me.

The thing that didn't work for me in terms of the writing was how she blurted out her sympathies for the Scots at the dinner table. Her character just seems too smart to do something so clumsy, even if she was being goaded by Black Jack Fuckass.
posted by homunculus at 7:12 PM on September 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

She's smart but she's sassy. And against all the evidence, deep down Claire really doesn't understand the gender dynamics of the time and the dangers they carry.

And yes, total surprise to the sudden beating. He may have said a loaded line like "Someday I hope to show you the real me," but he also grudgingly admitted to being interested in her opinion in a way that only "the good guys" have so far.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:32 PM on September 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm curious - for the show-only viewers, did the gut-punch catch you completely by surprise, or was it obvious that Randall was leading up to violence?

Well, it was obvious to me. Black Jack is a fucking rapist - that's not just a slip in manners, and his supposed apology was clearly insincere (IMO). He's a sleazy motherfucker to the core.

What made the scene for me was Claire's clear and desperate need to see him as something better, because he's the very image of her husband.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:53 AM on September 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

I expected a figurative gut punch, but not a literal one. I could see that BJR was toying with her, but the physicality of the attack was a surprise to me. In a way it is a refreshing part of his character that he doesn't treat her in a more deferential way - he seems to be an equal opportunity abuser.
posted by dness2 at 10:25 AM on September 15, 2014

I was expecting something like the gut punch to happen, but it still took me by surprise. The tension of that scene was tremendously effective, and Tobias Menzies really sold how monstrous Randall is. I wanted Claire out out out of that room the whole time with a fervency that kind of surprised me.

Also, dear god, that whipping scene. Watching that was the first time I viscerally understood how/why people faint when witnessing extreme violence/gore.
posted by yasaman at 10:49 AM on September 16, 2014

What made the scene for me was Claire's clear and desperate need to see him as something better, because he's the very image of her husband.


That made it painful, yeah.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:51 AM on September 16, 2014

How freaking magnificent was Dougal Mackenzie though, plainly stating he would start a war before he'd let Claire be harmed again?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:52 AM on September 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

The thing I really admire about this series is--much like Game of Thrones--you can really feel the breadth and depth of the source material. It really feels like a completely realized world.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:06 PM on September 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

I just realized the actor who plays Dougal also plays one of the dwarves in the Hobbit movies.
posted by homunculus at 8:06 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Appropriately, the actors who play Jamie Fraser and Dougal MacKenzie both support independence.
posted by homunculus at 8:38 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Whaa...? I was not prepared for anything in this episode. I'd been naively following a romantic fantasy story, and found myself suddenly in the middle of a really grim episode of GoT in stead. Could only watch the flogging scene from behinde a very large and sturdy sofa cushion.

The baddie is so much scarier and creepier than I expected. The entire scene with him and Claire alone in the room was nerve wrecking and awful, and the gut-punch still came to me as a totally unexpected shock. Now I'm really afraid of him.

But, um. Why did Claire and Randall refer to Jamie as a boy? He looks very much like a grown ass man to me. Is he lots younger in the books? Because right now he's the hunkiest 35-year old virgin in the Highlands. Nothing wrong with that, but, er, why exactly? Is he a really devout Catholic or something?

Anyway, next stop bigamy, it seems! Or war?
posted by sively at 12:10 AM on April 13, 2016